4A
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 20, 2019
The Observer
OUR VIEW
Optimism
on the
trade front
Over the last three years we’ve learned to be cau-
tious with our optimism on matters of trade. But, it
looks as though there was some positive movement
on that front last week.
After more than a year of dithering, the House of
Representatives approved the U.S.-Mexico-Canada
Agreement. USMCA replaces the North American
Free Trade Agreement.
NAFTA has received mixed reviews from farmers
since the fi rst President George Bush negotiated it
and President Bill Clinton signed it.
Making good on a campaign pledge, President
Donald Trump reopened talks on the North Ameri-
can Free Trade Agreement with Canada and Mexico.
The product of those negotiations was the USMCA.
Those terms were formally accepted Nov. 1, 2018,
and the deal was put before Congress.
And there it has sat.
Although ag interests were happy with the new
deal, Democrats in Congress said it didn’t go far
enough to protect Mexican workers or the environ-
ment. Raising standards for Mexican workers makes
U.S. manufacturing, particularly that staffed by
union labor, more competitive.
House Democrats and the White House have
been working behind the scenes to make the neces-
sary tweaks to the pact. Despite the rancor over the
House’s attempt to impeach Trump, or perhaps be-
cause of it, a deal was reached. Democrats represent-
ing districts in the industrial Midwest need a trade
deal just as much as the president.
The Senate still has to pass the deal. Senate Ma-
jority Leader Mitch McConnell anticipates that the
Senate will have to consider articles of impeachment
pending in the House, and says a vote on the trade
deal will come after the Senate trial.
Also last week the administration and Chinese of-
fi cials announced a deal to de-escalate the 17-month
trade war between the two countries.
The U.S. agreed to suspend a new round of tariff
hikes on $160 billion worth of Chinese goods that
were to go into effect last weekend and to reduce tar-
iffs on $112 billion in goods that are already in place.
China agreed to buy $40 billion worth of agricultural
goods from the U.S. a year for the next two years.
The Chinese also agreed to reduce barriers to beef,
poultry and animal feed, and to increase protections
for intellectual property.
The president told farmers last week that they’d
need to buy bigger tractors because they will be sell-
ing so much to China.
We suspect most farmers will hold their orders until
the ships start leaving the dock. The announcement
was light on the operational details. China’s commit-
ment to $40 billion in ag purchases is ambitious, given
its purchases have never topped $26 billion a year.
As we said, we’ve learned to be cautious because
we’ve seen these deals fall through or stall just as
quickly as they are announced.
But in keeping with the yuletide season, we are
willing to believe possible a Christmas miracle or
two — at least for now.
Your views
Howell: Quiet Zone a terrible
waste of our tight tax dollars
To the Editor:
I have read/watched with deep
concern and disappointment about La
Grande’s move to silence railroad horns.
There are several problems with this
new policy. I would challenge the logic
in priorities that the city seems to have.
If this issue had been put to a vote by
citizens, I suspect it would not have
passed.
The actual cost in terms of dollars: I
understand the city council approved
nearly $200,000 from the general fund
to obtain permits, pour concrete and
use city worker time.
So, in contrast we apparently have
forsaken good funding policy to main-
tain our crumbling streets by instead
raiding the general fund to spend hard-
earned tax dollars for inconvenience
abatement. I object to noisy mud tires
or poorly maintained vehicles loudly
moving around town in the early morn-
ings. Should we do something about
that?
We got the token repaving this
summer on part of Cove Avenue,
Washington Avenue and Balm Street.
What about fi nishing Washington from
Fourth to at least Walnut? Or, Jefferson
from Walnut to Greenwood? There are
plenty of other candidates too.
We have had railroad activity here
since 1884. It is part of the fabric of the
community. Generations of railroad-
ers have contributed to the community.
Changing the community in this way
will not be of interest to those people who
could bring more/better jobs to the area.
In fact, these actions may be seen as a
sign of how “sensitive” the community is
and possibly cause investors to pass us by.
Dropping a clear safety tool and
penning motorists into lanes till a train
passes is not an improvement. If the
track circuit fails and gates don’t rise,
motorists are completely stuck. And
what of the many pedestrian trespass-
ers over the UP lines? Will a Quiet
Zone jeopardize their unlawful moves
while traumatizing a train crew seeing
disaster coming?
In all, I think this is a terrible waste
of our tight tax dollars and will not
change the livability of the community.
I pray there are not accidents as a
Write to us
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result of misunderstanding the new
rules.
Curt Howell
La Grande
Dougherty: If Trump is
innocent, let him prove it
To the Editor:
Trump is trying to take control of our
government. We are a democracy, not a
monarchy. We, the people, deserve an hon-
est look at the Trump administration.
Trump’s staff must testify, Trump
may if he chooses, but we cannot allow
our three branches of government to
merge into one or two branches. We
cannot have our representatives declar-
ing the outcome of a trial before hearing
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A division of
Janice Dougherty
Pendleton
Fritz: Abuse of power is not
OK
To the Editor:
It is not OK for a president to abuse
the power of his offi ce for personal gain.
It is not OK for a president to lie.
It is not OK for a president to encour-
age others to commit crimes with the
promise that he will later pardon them.
It is not OK for a president to bribe a
foreign government.
It is not OK for a president to ask a
foreign government to interfere in our
elections.
It is not OK for a president to ob-
struct a Congressional investigation.
It is not OK for a president’s actions
to threaten our national security.
It is not OK for an elected represen-
tative, such as Rep. Greg Walden and
his Republican colleagues, to pretend
that any of the above are OK.
It is not OK for an elected representa-
tive, such as Rep. Greg Walden and his
Republican colleagues, to ignore his/her
sworn duty to uphold the Constitution
and the rule of law in this country.
It is so not OK.
Daniel Fritz
Mosier
STAFF
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from all witnesses involved. The reason
Congress proceeded with impeachment
is because Trump is acting like a mon-
arch by refusing to allow his adminis-
tration to provide staff, documents and
recordings for Congress.
We know that Russia was allowed to
meddle in our 2016 election. We know
Trump attempted to bribe Ukraine to
meddle on his behalf toward the 2020
election. We heard Trump invite China
to meddle. Now the Trump administra-
tion and GOP senators are cooperating
as one branch for a hearing. Innocent
people do not behave as Trump, his
administration and the GOP are.
If the Trump administration is in-
nocent, they need to provide us with
the requested people and documents
to prove it. Any representative that
has stated the trial outcome prior to
the trial must recuse from the process.
Trump needs to be impeached.
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La Grande, Oregon 97850
Publisher........................................Karrine Brogoitti
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